“In hijab I felt myself different. I felt myself purified and protected. I felt the company of Allah. As a foreigner, I felt sometimes uneasy in a public place, stared by men. With hijab, I was not seen. I found that the hijab sheltered me from such impolite stares. I was also very happy and proud in hijab which is not only the sign of my obedience to Allah but also the manifestation of my faith…besides, the hijab helps us to recognize each other and to share the feeling of sisterhoods. The hijab has also the advantage of reminding the people around me that God exists and reminding me of being with God. It tells me: “be careful. You should conduct yourself as a Muslim” As a policeman becomes more conscious of his profession in his uniform, I had a stronger feeling of being Muslim with hijab.

Soon, I started to put the hijab before my going out from the house whenever I went to the Mosque. It was a spontaneous and voluntary act and no body forced me to do so….

…For me…it was a trial to live in a small town in Japan, isolated completely from Muslims, But such isolation helped me to intensify my consciousness of being a Muslim. As Islam prohibits the women to disclose the body and to wear clothes which accentuate the body line, I had to abandon many of my clothes such as mini-skirts and half-sleeve blouses. Besides, the Western style fashion does not match with the hijab. I decided, therefore, to make a dress by myself. I asked a friend of mine who knew dress-making to help me, and in two weeks I made a dress with a “pantaloon” after the model of a “Pakistani dress”. I did not mind people looking at my strange “fashion”.“

Modesty is a woman’s best weapon!

Be like a diamond, precious and rare, not like a stone found every where.

Every precious thing is covered! A woman modestly dressed is like a pearl in its shell.

You may not be a fairy tale princess, but you are always a princess of Islam.

Your value as a women is not measured by the size of your waist or the number of men who like you.

Your worth as a human being is measured on a higher scale of righteousness and piety.

Hijab includes the way you walk, talk, look, and think — all of it should be done modestly.

The sun doesn’t lose its beauty when its covered by the clouds, the same way your beauty doesn’t fade when you are wearing a hijab.

Your purpose in life despite what the fashion magazines say is something more sublime than just looking good for men.

Your beauty is for your man (husband), not for the mankind.

Even though a man is responsible for his gaze, you are responsible for what you give him to gaze at, so guard your modesty.

Hijab with a bad attitude isn’t hijab. Hijab with tight clothes on isn’t hijab. Hijab with layers of makeup isn’t hijab. Hijab is beautiful, so make it look beautiful. Wear it with love, wear it with pride, and most of all wear it Right.

The nobel prize winner Tawakkul Kamran from Yemen, when asked about her hijab by journalists and how it is not proportionate with her intellect and education, she replied: “Man in the early times was almost naked, and as his intellect evolved he started wearing clothes. What I am today and what I am wearing represents the highest level of thought and civilization that man has achieved, and is not regressive. It’s the removal of clothes again that is regressive back to ancient times.”